


cats and cookies

by fandomsnthings



Series: Kids, Someday, Maybe? [1]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: F/M, ITS OKAY I HATE ME TOO, Kid Fic, emma is the #1 mom, paul is the #1 dad, this is really fluffy tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27142184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomsnthings/pseuds/fandomsnthings
Summary: It's Halloween in Hatchetfield, and Emma and Paul's daughter doesn't want to dress up alone.
Relationships: (mentioned) - Relationship, Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Paul Matthews & Emma Perkins, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Series: Kids, Someday, Maybe? [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981244
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	cats and cookies

**Author's Note:**

> hi I'm back on my bullshit!!!
> 
> This is the first chapter in a series of oneshots I'm going to be posting about Paul and Emma and their daughter, Eloise. They are not going to be in chronological order, but they are going to be cute as fuck (and occasionally angsty but I'll make up for it). 
> 
> Idk if anyone is gonna read these but if you do, I appreciate you! Thank you for reading!

“Okay, Eloise, here are your options.” 

Emma hitched the child higher up on her hip, pointing at the wall of costumes for children her age. There were unicorns and dinosaurs and Princess and ninjas and Emma and Paul really had no clue what she would pick. 

Her first three Halloween’s, they had each picked one. On her first, when she was still really tiny, Emma had picked out a little bat costume, and on her second, Paul picked out a candy corn that she had looked absolutely ridiculous and adorable in, and on her third, she was a sloth because both Paul and Emma thought it was hilarious. Now, though, she had more words and was the most opinionated person they knew, so they thought it would be more exciting for her if she got to decide. 

“Hmmmm,” Eloise hummed comically, studying the wall of options closely for a few moments before one seemingly caught her eye and she pointed, “That one!” 

“What one?” Paul asked from behind them, not sure what exactly she was indicating. 

“Kitty!” Eloise said excitedly, and then the adults saw she was pointing at. A black leotard with cat ears, tights, a tutu, and finished off with a tail, “Look, Mama! Looks like Stevie!” 

Stevie was Tom and Tim’s black and white kitten, who Eloise loved with all of her heart and begged to go see on a weekly basis. Emma and Paul had been in the talks of getting her her own cat, but they hadn’t committed completely yet. 

“It does look like Stevie, huh?” Emma said, taking the costume in her size off of the hook, “Are you sure you want this one? One hundred percent? You don’t want to be a princess or a witch or anything?” 

She wasn’t trying to sway her daughter, but she also didn’t want to have to return the costume in three days when Eloise decided she didn’t want it anymore because she didn’t think it through before she said she wanted it. 

“Yes!” Eloise squealed, “Wanna be kitty!” 

“Okay, sounds good!” Emma smiled, “You know what? I can use makeup to draw a nose and whiskers on you too! Does that sound fun?” 

“Yes, makeup!” 

“Okay, let’s go check out, then,” Paul said, starting to walk in that direction until Eloise shouted. 

“Wait!” Paul stopped, looking back at her in Emma’s arms, “What ‘bout Mama and Daddy costumes?” 

“Mama and Daddy don’t dress up on Halloween,” Paul explained with a faux-sad smile, “Just Ellie.” 

“Be kitties with me?” Eloise requested pleadingly, “Please?” 

Emma shrugged, “I’ll do it. What about you, Daddy?” 

Paul let out a sigh, “Can’t you and Mama just do it?” 

“No, Daddy, please? We a family,” Eloise said softly, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout, “Wanna be kitties with you.” 

She sent him the puppy dog eyes, and that’s when he broke, “Okay, okay, I’ll do it.” 

“Yay!” Eloise exclaimed, clapping. A smile lit up her face, and that instantly made up for any embarrassment he may suffer as a result of dressing up for Halloween. He walked forward, taking her out of Emma’s arms and swooping her up so she was sitting on her shoulders. 

“Let’s get some cat ears for Mommy and I.” 

\-----

“I can’t believe our child convinced me to dress up like this.” 

Emma turned around from where she was looking at herself in the mirror, drawing a cat nose and whiskers on her face with an eyeliner pencil, and burst into laughter when she saw her husband, clad in a black long-sleeved shirt, black jeans, and the sparkly cat ears Eloise had picked out perched on top of his head. She was dressed similarly, save she had leggings and felt a hell of a whole lot more comfortable than he did. 

“Em! Don’t laugh at me!” He protested, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment, “Ted is going to have a field day with this.” 

They were getting ready to go to a Halloween party that Mr. Davidson held every year in a downtown hotel party room. It was an opportunity to get Eloise a head start on trick-or-treating before the actual Halloween the next day so hopefully she wouldn’t throw a fit when they cut her off at 7 PM and to show off to more people how damn cute she was in her costume. Whenever Paul and Emma had gone before, they hadn’t dressed up; it wasn’t really a common thing among the adults for them to dress up for the party beyond maybe some makeup or a funny t-shirt. It was more of a work bonding function than an actual party. 

Paul was excited to show off how cute Eloise was before he was made to dress up too. 

“Fuck Ted,” Emma said, finishing off her makeup before gesturing for him to come closer so she could start on his, “You have a daughter. A precious, optimistic, enthusiastic three-year-old. I’m not sure how you and I produced a child with those qualities, but it’s what we got, so we just have to go with it. She wanted her parents to dress up with her, which is fucking adorable, so we are going to do it with a smile, okay? And we’re going to make the most of it. She’s only going to want to do this for so long.” 

Throughout her speech, she had managed to draw the nose and whiskers on his face. Once she was done, she leaned forward to peck his lips carefully. She whispered, “We’re gonna miss when she doesn’t want to do stuff like this anymore. So fuck Ted, and fuck whoever else laughs or makes fun of you.” 

“I love you,” he said simply, having accepted his fate. 

“I love you too. Now, go wake her up from her nap. She’s gonna flip the fuck out when she sees your makeup,” she said, pushing him towards the door of the bathroom. 

He walked to Eloise’s room, knocking on the door lightly before entering. All he could see of her was a lump under her blankets, so he walked forward quietly, kneeling down next to her tiny bed and prodding what he thought was her shoulder gently, “Hey baby girl. Time to wake up!” 

She groaned slightly, turning over towards him with a huff and a yawn. Her eyes remained indignantly closed. 

“Buddy, you have to wake up,” he said, trying to stop himself from laughing. For a girl who never hesitated to put up a fight when they tried to put her down for a nap, she was sure as hell a Sleeping Beauty, “Mama is ready to get you in your costume so we can go to the party and get some candy.” 

With the mention of candy, her eyes opened instantly. She blinked tiredly for a few moments before she said quietly, a sleepy smile on her face, “Daddy have whiskers.” 

“Yeah, I do have whiskers,” he said, standing up and lifting her onto his hip, “Let’s go see Mama, and she’ll give you some whiskers of your own.” 

She rested her head against his shoulder as he carried her into the master bedroom, where Emma was waiting for them, sat on the edge of the bed. 

“I have a tired kitty cat ready to get her whiskers put on,” he said.

“Hi Mama,” Eloise murmured as Paul set her down on the bed, and she immediately leant against Emma’s body. 

“Hey angel. It looks like you had a nice nap. Ready to get your costume on?” 

“Yes,” Elosie said smally. 

Emma went to work, getting the child into her costume as efficiently as possible. As soon as the tutu had been put on, Emma stood and lifted the girl into her arms, carrying her into the bathroom and placing her onto the vanity, “Let’s get your makeup on. It might tickle a little, but try not to wiggle too much, okay? I don’t want to mess it up.” 

“Okie dokie, Mama,” Eloise hummed, laughing occasionally as the eyeliner tickled her cheeks. 

She reached up to scratch her face, but Emma stopped her before she could smudge it, “Hey, you have to be careful! You’re gonna mess it up if you rub at it, and then you’ll look more like a bear than a cat.” 

Eloise giggled, “I don’t wanna be a bear!” 

“You have to be careful then, huh?”

“Mama have whiskers too!” Eloise said excitedly, seemingly only then being awake enough to register them. 

“Yep, we’re a whole big kitty cat family,” Emma said, lifting Eloise up and off of the vanity, turning her around momentarily so she could look at herself in the mirror, “Like it?” 

“Yes!” She chirped. Emma placed her on the ground and ushered her back into the master bedroom. 

Paul gasped dramatically when he saw her, and she did a twirl to flare out her tutu, “Look, it's the cutest kitty cat on the planet!”

“What about Mama?” 

“Mama is the prettiest kitty cat on the planet. I don’t think she’d like it if I called her cute,” Paul smiled amusedly. 

“Yeah, no, I’m not about that,” Emma said from the doorway, “Are we ready to party?” 

“Yes! Yes! Wanna see Auntie Charlotte! She likes kitties too!” 

“She sure does,” Emma laughed, “Let’s go, then!” 

Eloise skipped out to the living room, but Paul remained planted firmly on the bed. Emma rolled her eyes at him, a hand coming up to adjust the cat ears on her head, “Let’s go, buddy. Swallow your pride. You’ll be fine.” 

“I’m probably gonna show up to work on Monday to fliers with me in this costume plastered everywhere,” he grumbled. 

“Paul, what did I say?” She said, crossing her arms, “We are doing this with a smile, because our daughter is really excited. It’s two nights of your life, one of which no one will probably make fun of you because we don’t know the people who live in the houses that we are trick-or-treating at. You’ll be fine. It’ll be fun. You’ll see.” 

He stood up and trudged over to her, eveloping her in an over-dramatic hug where he hung all of his weight onto her, and made her laugh. 

“If someone asks me to meow, we’re grabbing the child and getting the hell out of there,” he mumbled into her ear. 

“Y’know what, that sounds pretty reasonable to me.” 

\--

“Oh my God! Paul Matthews! What the fuck!” 

The greeting from Ted was the first thing the family was hit with when they entered the half-full party room. Paul immediately rolled his eyes, and looked to Emma, who was trying to hide a smile. 

“First of all,” Paul sighed, “my name is Paul Matthews-Perkins as of two years ago, and second of all, my daughter wanted us to be a family of cats, and she has a damn cute face, so I couldn’t say no.” 

“Oh, the hyphenated last name just adds to it!” Ted laughed, seemingly already completely inebriated despite the party barely having even started. 

“Ted!” Charlotte protested from next to him, “Be nice! I think it’s sweet!” 

“Auntie Charlotte, imma kitty!” Eloise exclaimed from Paul’s arms, “You lub kitties!” 

Charlotte smacked Ted on the shoulder for good measure before walking up to the family, smiling brightly at the little girl, “I do love kitties! You look so sweet, Eloise!” 

“Tank you,” Eloise said shyly, her shoulders rising to her ears, a characteristic she picked up from her father for when she was being bashful. 

“Wasn’t it so nice for your mom and dad to dress up with you?” Charlotte said, her smile becoming larger as she studied Paul and Emma’s black ensembles as well. 

“Yes! They the best Mama and Daddy.” 

“Aw, El, that’s so sweet,” Emma said, reaching up to brush some hair out of her face, “You’re the best daughter that Daddy and I could have ever asked for.” 

“That’s for sure,” Paul added, pressing a kiss to the side of her head before lowering her to the ground. 

“There’s a whole table of cookies and candy over there,” Charlotte said, pointing behind them, “Would you like to come with me to go look, Eloise?” 

Eloise nodded quickly before looking up at her parents for permission. When they both gestured for her to go ahead, she took Charlotte’s hand and walked over to the table with her. 

Paul noticed that Ted watched them go, some type of lovestruck look on his face. Paul rolled his eyes; if Ted was going to have any chance at some kind of future with Charlotte, he was going to have to stop being such an asshole. But he wasn’t going to be the one to tell the other man that. 

“I need alcohol,” Emma said suddenly from beside him, tugging his hand and pulling him towards the respective set up. 

“Hey, wait!” He protested, “Only one of us can drink, and I think it deserves to be me! I feel like I’m going to die from embarrassment.” 

“Even if you did drink, you wouldn’t get drunk around our child, so you’d still feel the embarrassment, just probably feel worse about it,” she said. 

“Yeah, and you’re not going to get drunk around Eloise either, so, now that I think about it, what’s the point of either of us drinking?” 

Emma threw back her head with a groan, “Geez, I love our kid, but sometimes she’s a buzzkill.” 

He laughed, “Hey, we’ll ask Tom to watch her next week, and then we can go to a bar, and you can drink to your heart’s desire, okay? She’ll probably be excited to have a sleepover with Tim, and the cat. Maybe Tim can finally teach her how to play Mario Kart like he’s always wanted to.” 

She pouted at him jokingly, and he had to laugh, because, despite her desire, she in fact looked so damn cute with the cat makeup on, “Whatever.” 

They made their way over to one of the empty tables to put their things down, watching from a distance as Eloise pointed out different things to Charlotte. 

“She’s gonna come back over here with a tower of cookies I bet,” Emma mused as Charlotte began handing her the things she pointed at. 

“Yeah,” he chuckled lightly, “We should probably cut her off after, like, three, and bring the rest home so she’s not up all night.” 

“She’s not gonna be happy with that, but I agree,” Emma said, smiling and waving when Eloise looked back at them over her shoulder, “How did we end up with her? How did we get so lucky?” 

“I don’t know,” he said softly before smirking, “Maybe we’re just the greatest parents on the planet. That’s how it had to have worked, right? We have the best kid, so we’re the best parents.” 

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Emma snorted, “We do good enough, but I think she makes it easy. She’s just, so nice! I mean, I used to be a stone cold bitch, and you used to avoid all social interaction for the most part until she was born. I think we learn more from her than she learns from us.” 

“I think so too.” 

Their conversation ended when Eloise came bounding towards them, a pile of cookies held in her tiny hands. As she came closer, they could see there were only three, which surprised both parents completely, 

“Mama, Daddy!” She said when she got to the table. She climbed up on one of the empty chairs at the table, placing the cookies on the table. 

She pushed one so it was in front of Emma, “One for youuu.” And then one so it was in front of Paul, “One for youuu,” and the last one remained in front of her on the table, “And one for me!”

Emma looked at Paul, “You see this? How did we make this?” 

Paul just shrugged, turning his attention to their daughter, “Did you get any candy?” 

“Not yet. Wanna bring you a cookie first,” Eloise said, “Eat it! Looks like pumpkin!” 

They each looked down at the cutout cookies, which were obviously bought from the grocery store, but the sentiment behind Eloise bringing them one each overran that fact. They each took a bite, as did Eloise, and she looked at them expectantly until they were done chewing. 

“Do you like it?” She asked happily, kicking her legs under the table and disturbing the purple table cloth, “I like it.” 

“Yeah, El, it was great,” Emma said, standing up and going to pick the child up to press a kiss to her cheek, “Now, let’s go get some candy. I’ll show you all the good kinds.”

She looked to Paul, “You stay here and man the fort. We don’t need anyone taking our table.” 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that the three half-eaten cookies wouldn’t do the trick,” he called as she walked away, and laughed when she flipped him off with her free hand over her shoulder. 

As he watched them approach the different tables, in their matching outfits, large smiles on each of their faces and laughs when one or the other of them would make a joke, he couldn’t help but feel extremely grateful. 

They were the best parts of his life. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve either of them; he was certain he hadn’t done anything that made him worthy. He would never stop counting his lucky stars, despite the fact that they sometimes made him do ridiculous things, like dress up like a cat for a work function. 

Late the next night, after the real trick-or-treating, he watched Emma tuck a completely passed out Eloise into her bed, after she had crashed from a wild sugar high. He saw the tender look on his wife’s face as the little girl whimpered for her Mama in her sleep, but quickly calmed after a kiss on the forehead, and he knew he wouldn’t trade them for anything. 

Another Halloween down, and they just kept getting better. 

**Author's Note:**

> You may ask, why wasn't Bill in this fic? And to that, I say, I don't know.


End file.
